I Brought You Presents!

Isla had been about to offer to get some of the ingredients together when Remi simply conjured them over, the medic's eyes widening and a delighted smile lighting up her face. Well, that certainly was convenient. It was with a pang of jealousy that she was reminded she had no skills of that sort - even if it hadn't been the ability to heal, something like telekinesis would have been invaluable. Still, she brushed the thoughts away and chewed on a small sliver of the peppermint bark. She arched an eyebrow at his suggestion, nodding gently but looking more than a touch sceptical. "In order to do that, though, wouldn't we need to get close to the creature and hold it still to get the venom?" Somehow, she got the idea that the demon wouldn't allow them that privilege. A soft sigh escaped her, Isla relaxing into her chair and drumming her fingers across her knee. "And if it is a guard, we'll have to get rid of it before we can learn any more... I have a small amount of the venom, at least. I just need to know how best to analyse it." Isla the flesh is weak

Nodding thoughtfully, Remi too nibbled on the bark. "I was thinking perhaps that we might devise some sort of netting ... if we could get above it—or if those of us who can fly could hold it—perhaps we could acquire the venom that way as the creature flailed about? I do not recall Ronin mentioning that it had any ranged or magical attacks. If that is the case, perhaps there is a way of acquiring the venom unscathed." Pouring tea for them each, Remi toyed with the cup in his hands as Isla spoke. "These abilities are still quite new to me. I do not know the extend of what I am capable of,  or even for how long they will last. But if there is anything I can do to aid in your research, please let me know." Pausing for a moment, Remi closed his eyes and tried to recall what it was Rory had said about the creature. Frowning, he reached for his sketchbook and opened to the page he'd been writing in when he had been studying the spire. "Ahh, here it is." He mumbled to himself before tapping at his incomprehensible but beautiful handwriting. "Rory had mentioned that he does not believe the creature eats or sleeps, or even defecates." Glancing at Isla with a smile, the alchemist tilted his head. "What do you make of that, doctor?" REMI I tried to tie my heart down, board up all the windows Oh but it's too late now, I let you get too close

Isla chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully and let out a sigh, nibbling again on the peppermint bark. "Whilst I can definitely see the advantages of what you suggest... the injuries that were sustained when that group tried to face the creature..." She shook her head. "Even for venom extraction, I would not want to wish that on anyone. I think we might be better off in using what we already have but using it well. Perhaps there might be something you can do magically, or something I've missed. You're more than welcome to examine it if you like." Accepting her tea with a murmur of thanks, Isla arched an eyebrow and watched as Remi flicked through his notes and spoke, eventually, of what he had heard from their mutual sort-of-friend-or-acquaintance. At his smile and his question, she shot him a wry smirk. "Everything needs fuel," she said simply. "If it doesn't eat like a biological creature, it must get its energy from elsewhere. I'd say it was likely inorganic or magically sustained. A construct, or a golem... perhaps even mechanical in some way. Isla the flesh is weak

Listening carefully, Remi decided that the healer was likely right. He hadn't been there, hadn't seen the creature first hand. It was Isla who had to patch Ronin up, and if anyone had a better idea of whether or not the reward would be worth the risk, it was the woman before him. "No, I am sure you are right. And I very much doubt that there would be anything I could discern from it that you have not already." She was the expert after all, and Remi didn't doubt her abilities in the slightest. Blowing on his tea, he sipped it as Isla theorized. "If it requires fuel, I wonder if we could find a way to starve it?" Then again surely if it gained energy from some obvious source Rory would have mentioned it. Perhaps it was powered by the sun? By the earth? By the barrier itself? "Mechanical?" Remi blinked in surprised. Even with magic the alchemist had only been able to make very rudimentary constructs. He couldn't imagine the spire beast having been created. Magic was one thing, but creation suggested some intricate knowledge of how living things moved and behaved. Could it really be possible? "I think what is perhaps more frightening than that..."{/say] Remi said, lifting his eyes and tilting his head to the side slightly. "Is this implication that if it was created, then that means there is a creator." REMI I tried to tie my heart down, board up all the windows Oh but it's too late now, I let you get too close

Isla smiled weakly and nodded in agreement; she hadn't wanted to put a dampener on Remi's train of thought, but healer or no, patching up wounds like that was always guaranteed to put her in something of a sombre mood. "Well, the offer is open in case you do want to take a look," she told him, blowing on her tea and smiling at the scent of it, before taking an experimental sip. Delighted by the taste, her smile grew sunnier. Good tea and interesting conversation - what wasn't to love? "To starve it, you say? I suppose we would need to study it over a few days... but doing that without being caught..." Unless there was a way to watch it from afar without necessarily getting its attention, Isla wasn't sure it was possible. Her blue eyes sharpened at his surprise, Isla nodding to him. "In a world like this, where there are so many strange things... is it all that impossible a thought, though? I mean, it could also be some sort of... reanimated creature, if it doesn't need to eat. Or maybe it evolved from something else...?" So many questions, so few answers. Isla the flesh is weak

Smiling cheekily, Remi glanced at her over the rim of his cup. "Maybe you could explain your findings to me? I am always happy to learn." As the pair had discussed previously, Remi was sure that there was a lot he could learn from Isla. Remi shrugged. "Rory said as long as we weren't too close it wouldn't attack, but then again it also didn't come out when I was trying to study it. I am not sure what the balance would be. " How were they meant to be close enough to provoke the creature from wherever it spent its time, but not to close as to encourage an attack? Exhaling an upwards stream of air that ccaused one of his curls to flop against his forehead, Remi offered an eager but befuddled smile. "I have no idea ... but if you can think of any way in which we could find out, I would be very much interested." REMI I tried to tie my heart down, board up all the windows Oh but it's too late now, I let you get too close

"I would love to. The next time you are free, drop by the infirmary and I'll make time for you. Though the closer to dark the better, I'd say. It tends to quieten down around dusk." Isla winked at him, though in truth she could never truthfully say that things were 'quiet' for a healer. Striking a balance in order to observe the creature without an inevitable attack would be difficult, yes, but Isla was sure there must be something they could do. "You are an inventor and an alchemist, are you not? Perhaps you could make a spyglass?" she suggested. Tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, she sipped again at her tea and smiled over the cup to Remi. "I certainly will. Until then, though, shall we put such morbid thoughts out of our heads?" Isla the flesh is weak

"I will indeed. And I shall bring the rest of the tools we spoke of." Remi said with a smile. He hadn't forgotten their first conversation. He'd simply been too wrapped up in lion-related things and now magic-related things. But he'd back to the mundane. A spyglass? Actually something like that had been one of the things he'd been working on primarily with Loren, and given all that had happened he'd more or less abandoned the project. Perhaps now he'd have a reason to resume it. "A wonderful idea. Perhaps I will. We might need a way to bait the creature, but at least we could be a safe distance away." With a happy grin, the alchemist nodded in agreement. Taking a piece of the peppermint bark Isla had brought, he stirred his tea with it and told her about all the half-formed works he'd been tinkering with, ideas he had, problems he was encountering and so on. He wasn't surprised at all that the medic had several good solutions and suggestions to problems he had been trying to think his way around for weeks. Happily the pair spoke long after the tea ran out. ~FIN REMI I tried to tie my heart down, board up all the windows Oh but it's too late now, I let you get too close